Quote: Art Speaks To The Heart Not Just The Eye

"If looking just like nature was the only purpose of art, the most detailed painter would be most effective. But it is not the eye, but the mind, to which the great painter wants to speak. He won't waste his time upon small details that catch the eye and divide the attention of the viewer from his larger purpose of speaking to the heart." (Translated from old English by Stapleton Kearns)

Original Text: "If deceiving the eye were the only business of the Art there is no doubt indeed but the minute painter would be more apt to succeed but it is not the eye it is the mind which the painter of genius desires to address nor will he waste a moment upon those smaller objects which only serve to catch the sense to divide the attention and to counteract his great design of speaking to the heart."

Sir Joshua Reynolds